Private college tuition is rising faster than inflation .... again

College is expensive. And at private colleges for the upcoming 2017-18 school year, it’s becoming more expensive.

The nation’s top 50 private universities, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, are upping their tuition by an average of 3.6%.

A handful are even raising their tuition rates by more than 4%, according to their websites.

Lehigh University’s tuition, for example, which stood at $47,920 for the 2016-2017 school year, will increase to $50,320 — a 5% increase. And Cal Tech and Brown University tuition is going up by 4.94% and 4% respectively.

The percentage change in private college tuition from 2016-17 to 2017-18. (Graphic: Kellie Bancalari)

Don’t tuition rates typically increase because of inflation? Yes, and this year’s increase — as has happened in the past — is higher than the rate of inflation. In the past 12 months, the rate of inflation stood at 2.2%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Colleges, however, appear to be increasing their tuition rates by nearly double the inflation rate — a trend that has been consistent for the past decade.

Universities often justify these high increases by pointing to their peers’ rates. For example, Northwestern University raised their tuition by 3.6%. In the newsletter Northwestern Now, vice president of media relations Alan Cubbage wrote that “the increase is consistent with other peer research universities, which have announced increases of up to 3.9 percent to date.”

Despite college prices rising, there is some good news about the increases in college tuition: The rate at which tuition is increasing is actually slowing down.

According to a report done by the College Board, private universities are starting to increase their tuition and fee prices at a slower rate. Here’s the percentage increases — beyond the rate of inflation — since the mid-’80s:

– From 1986-87 to 1996-97, the price of tuition and fees increased on average by 3.1%.
– In the next decade, tuition and fees increased by 2.9%.
– From 2006-07 to 2016-2017, tuition and fees increased by only 2.4% at private institutions.

The average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges over time. (Graphic: Kellie Bancalari)

Still, college still remains expensive, and students are struggling to pay the high rates of tuition to earn their college degrees. As of Dec. 31, 2016, outstanding student loan balances for U.S. students stood at a hefty $1.3 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

And while colleges are raising tuition, it’s getting harder to pay for it.

The White House plans to decrease financial aid funding to thousands of students — making college even more costly to families. In the proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year, President Trump proposed a cut in financial aid for students. The largest cut proposed is to the Pell Grant program by $3.9 billion. The Pell Grant program is the largest federal grant program — which means many would-be-recipients will need to find another way to subsidize their college costs.

On top of these aid cuts, the federal government also announced increases in the federal loan rate.

Low-income students worry that a cut in financial aid could hold them back from attending their dream schools, especially as the cost of attending top-tier colleges gets more and more expensive.

“The proposed budget by the Trump administration really removes a number of the places where a low-income student would go to earn a degree,” Tom Lomax, the president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, said in an interview with ABC News.

Some social media users are expressing dismay at high cost of education.